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Point-of-sale terminal maker Ingenico S.A. says it earned net income of 36.7 million euros (US$46.9 million) last year, down 7.1% from 39.5 million euros in 2007. Revenues totaled 728 million euros, up 28.2% from 568 million euros. France-based Ingenico reported its fourth-quarter 2008 results in January (CardLine, 1/23), but it released more complete year-end results yesterday. Ingenico improved its operating margin, which measures how much revenue is left after paying variable costs, such as labor, but before paying fixed costs, to 12.5% from 11.4% in 2007. Ingenico CEO Philippe Lazare said in a press release that "2008 was a year of transformation for Ingenico." The company completed the integration of Sagem Monetel and Fujian Landi, a China-based POS maker, and it launched a services initiative tied to its terminals. The 2009 outlook is challenging, Lazare said. "Global market conditions have recently worsened, but market conditions vary significantly from one country to the other," he said, noting Ingenico's presence in 125 countries may help it get through the recession. Only two of the regions, comprising several countries, are out of line with Ingenico's expectations, Lazare said. North America and South America are experiencing "strong reduction in the retail market" and customer decisions to postpone orders.
